Accessing external resources using remotely stored credentials

ABSTRACT

A credentials store definition identifying a remote credential store is received. The credential store definition includes access information to enable access to the remote credentials store. A credentials object is created in an internal database based on a credentials object definition. The credentials object identifies a security credential to retrieve from the remote credentials store to access an external resource. At runtime, a request to access the external resource is received, and based on receiving the request, the security credentials identified by the credentials object are retrieved from the remote credential store using the access information. The retrieved security credential is provided to a processing component to access the external resource.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/241,476, filed Apr. 27, 2021, which is a Continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/861,739 filed Apr. 29, 2020 and now issued asU.S. Pat. No. 11,057,381, the contents of which are incorporated hereinby reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the disclosure relate generally to a network-baseddatabase system and, more specifically, to facilitating access and useof security credentials maintained by a remote credential store toaccess external resources.

BACKGROUND

Cloud-based data warehouses and other database systems sometimes rely onexternal resources such as external data sources, third-party services,and external functionality. These external resources often require useof security credentials (e.g., a username and password) to preventunauthorized access. Conventional data systems typically include aninternal credential store to store security credentials for use when anexternal resource requiring such credentials is invoked.

However, storing security credentials internally can be problematic fordatabase systems. For example, when a credential associated with anexternal resource changes (e.g., rotates) in a remote credential storeor other remote system (e.g., based on rotation policy or credentialcompromise), the credential needs to be updated in the internal store ofthe database system. This often leads to inconsistencies between theremote credential store and the database system credential store, whichcan disrupt workflows involving the external resource.

As another example, if credentials are stored internally, the databasesystem itself becomes an attack vector. The database system's internalcredential management system may not be as secure as a credential storedesigned to be highly secure, which means that the likelihood of acompromise is higher.

In addition, auditing mechanisms provided by typical database systemsare inadequate and do not allow users to sufficiently audit who accessedand used a given credential. In some instances, users must obtain andaggregate information from multiple disparate sources to fully auditsecurity credential use. What's more, some database systems do not havefull auditing capabilities to track specific information regarding theuse of a given credential and without specific details regarding howcredentials are used within a system, it may not be possible to fullyunderstand who has accessed a credential and how the credential wasused.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure will be understood more fully from the detaileddescription given below and from the accompanying drawings of variousembodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example computing environment that includes anetwork-based data warehouse system in communication with a cloudstorage platform, in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating components of a compute servicemanager, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating components of an executionplatform, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a data flow diagram illustrating use of remotely storedcredentials to access external resources, in accordance with someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are flow diagrams illustrating operations of thenetwork-based data warehouse system in performing a method for using asecurity credential stored at a remote credential store to access anexternal resource, in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine in theform of a computer system within which a set of instructions may beexecuted for causing the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein, in accordance with some embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to specific example embodiments forcarrying out the inventive subject matter. Examples of these specificembodiments are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and specificdetails are set forth in the following description in order to provide athorough understanding of the subject matter. It will be understood thatthese examples are not intended to limit the scope of the claims to theillustrated embodiments. On the contrary, they are intended to coversuch alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be includedwithin the scope of the disclosure.

Aspects of the present disclosure address the above and otherdeficiencies of internal storage of security credentials by utilizingremotely stored credentials to access external resources without storingcredentials internally. Rather than storing the credentials themselves,a credential management system in a database system stores and maintainscredential objects, which are data structures that include non-sensitiveinformation to identify security credentials that are to be retrievedfrom a remote credential store maintained by a credential store provider(e.g., Amazon Web Services® (AWS) Secrets Manager®, AWS ParameterStore®, Azure Keyvault®, Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Secrets Manager®,or a Hashicorp Vault®). For a given remote credential store, thecredential management system also stores access information that allowsthe credential management system to securely communicate with the remotecredential store and retrieve stored security credentials. Anadministrative user can grant other users, roles, and functions accessto a credential object, and the other users, roles, and functions canuse the underlying security credentials in accordance with privilegesassociated with the credential object.

When a request to access an external resource is received at run-time,the credential management system accesses a credential object associatedwith the external resource and retrieves security credentials associatedwith the external resource from a remote credential store using accessinformation associated with the credential store. The credentialmanagement system provides the retrieved security credentials to one ormore downstream processing components for use in accessing the externalresource. The credential management system also creates a record ofaccess of the security credentials based on the account, user, and/orrole associated with the request to access the external resource. Thecredential management system also allows users to view these records forauditing purposes.

Storing credential objects that reference credentials in remotecredential store systems rather than the security credentials themselvesprovides several benefits. For example, the credential management systemallows users of the database system to rotate credentials in theircredential store and have them be immediately available for use by thedatabase system without having to update credentials or otherinformation stored by the database system. As an additional benefit, auser can revoke access to the credentials or the credentials store atany point. If credentials are persisted in the database system, thenthis is not possible short of a user going in and removing them, whichpresents additional challenges if a system or administrative user isrequired. Moreover, as discussed above and described further below,credential objects are separated from credential stores, and thecredential objects can be selectively granted to users, roles,functions, and other entities within the context of the database system.Current systems that utilize credential-like objects often haverestrictions on use. For instance, these systems may tie a givencredential to a single entity. By using credential objects, a user canhave access to credentials and use them transparently withoutnecessarily having direct access to the credential or credentials store.As yet another benefit, the use of credential objects enables richauditing mechanisms that allow users to fully audit what sensitiveinformation was accessed at the database system and when.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example computing environment 100 that includes adatabase system in the example form of a network-based data warehousesystem 102, in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure. To avoid obscuring the inventive subject matter withunnecessary detail, various functional components that are not germaneto conveying an understanding of the inventive subject matter have beenomitted from FIG. 1 . However, a skilled artisan will readily recognizethat various additional functional components may be included as part ofthe computing environment 100 to facilitate additional functionalitythat is not specifically described herein.

As shown, the computing environment 100 comprises the network-based datawarehouse system 102 in communication with a cloud storage platform 104(e.g., AWS®, Microsoft Azure Blob Storage®, or Google Cloud Storage),and a cloud credential store provider 106. The network-based datawarehouse system 102 is a network-based system used for reporting andanalysis of integrated data from one or more disparate sources includingone or more storage locations within the cloud storage platform 104. Thecloud storage platform 104 comprises a plurality of computing machinesand provides on-demand computer system resources such as data storageand computing power to the network-based data warehouse system 102.

The network-based data warehouse system 102 comprises a compute servicemanager 108, an execution platform 110, and one or more metadatadatabases 112. The network-based data warehouse system 102 hosts andprovides data reporting and analysis services to multiple clientaccounts.

The compute service manager 108 coordinates and manages operations ofthe network-based data warehouse system 102. The compute service manager108 also performs query optimization and compilation as well as managingclusters of computing services that provide compute resources (alsoreferred to as “virtual warehouses”). The compute service manager 108can support any number of client accounts such as end users providingdata storage and retrieval requests, system administrators managing thesystems and methods described herein, and other components/devices thatinteract with compute service manager 108.

The compute service manager 108 is also in communication with a clientdevice 114. The client device 114 corresponds to a user of one of themultiple client accounts supported by the network-based data warehousesystem 102. A user may utilize the client device 114 to submit datastorage, retrieval, and analysis requests to the compute service manager108.

The compute service manager 108 is also coupled to one or more metadatadatabases 112 that store metadata pertaining to various functions andaspects associated with the network-based data warehouse system 102 andits users. For example, a metadata database 112 may include a summary ofdata stored in remote data storage systems as well as data availablefrom a local cache. Additionally, a metadata database 112 may includeinformation regarding how data is organized in remote data storagesystems (e.g., the cloud storage platform 104) and the local caches.Information stored by a metadata database 112 allows systems andservices to determine whether a piece of data needs to be accessedwithout loading or accessing the actual data from a storage device.

As another example, a metadata database 112 can store one or morecredential objects 115. In general, a credential object 115 indicatesone or more security credentials to be retrieved from a remotecredential store. For example, the credential store provider 106maintains multiple remote credential stores 118-1 to 118-N. Each of theremote credential stores 118-1 to 118-N may be associated with a useraccount and may be used to store security credentials associated withthe user account. A credential object 115 can indicate one of moresecurity credentials to be retrieved by the compute service manager 108from one of the remote credential stores 118-1 to 118-N (e.g., for usein accessing data stored by the storage platform 104).

The compute service manager 108 is further coupled to the executionplatform 110, which provides multiple computing resources that executevarious data storage and data retrieval tasks. The execution platform110 is coupled to storage platform 104 of the cloud storage platform104. The storage platform 104 comprises multiple data storage devices120-1 to 120-N. In some embodiments, the data storage devices 120-1 to120-N are cloud-based storage devices located in one or more geographiclocations. For example, the data storage devices 120-1 to 120-N may bepart of a public cloud infrastructure or a private cloud infrastructure.The data storage devices 120-1 to 120-N may be hard disk drives (HDDs),solid state drives (SSDs), storage clusters, Amazon S3™ storage systems,or any other data storage technology. Additionally, the cloud storageplatform 104 may include distributed file systems (such as HadoopDistributed File Systems (HDFS)), object storage systems, and the like.

The execution platform 110 comprises a plurality of compute nodes. A setof processes on a compute node executes a query plan compiled by thecompute service manager 108. The set of processes can include: a firstprocess to execute the query plan; a second process to monitor anddelete cache files using a least recently used (LRU) policy andimplement an out of memory (00M) error mitigation process; a thirdprocess that extracts health information from process logs and status tosend back to the compute service manager 108; a fourth process toestablish communication with the compute service manager 108 after asystem boot; and a fifth process to handle all communication with acompute cluster for a given job provided by the compute service manager108 and to communicate information back to the compute service manager108 and other compute nodes of the execution platform 110.

In some embodiments, communication links between elements of thecomputing environment 100 are implemented via one or more datacommunication networks. These data communication networks may utilizeany communication protocol and any type of communication medium. In someembodiments, the data communication networks are a combination of two ormore data communication networks (or sub-networks) coupled to oneanother. In alternate embodiments, these communication links areimplemented using any type of communication medium and any communicationprotocol.

The compute service manager 108, metadata database(s) 112, executionplatform 110, and storage platform 104, are shown in FIG. 1 asindividual discrete components. However, each of the compute servicemanager 108, metadata database(s) 112, execution platform 110, andstorage platform 104 may be implemented as a distributed system (e.g.,distributed across multiple systems/platforms at multiple geographiclocations). Additionally, each of the compute service manager 108,metadata database(s) 112, execution platform 110, and storage platform104 can be scaled up or down (independently of one another) depending onchanges to the requests received and the changing needs of thenetwork-based data warehouse system 102. Thus, in the describedembodiments, the network-based data warehouse system 102 is dynamic andsupports regular changes to meet the current data processing needs.

During typical operation, the network-based data warehouse system 102processes multiple jobs determined by the compute service manager 108.These jobs are scheduled and managed by the compute service manager 108to determine when and how to execute the j ob. For example, the computeservice manager 108 may divide the job into multiple discrete tasks andmay determine what data is needed to execute each of the multiplediscrete tasks. The compute service manager 108 may assign each of themultiple discrete tasks to one or more nodes of the execution platform110 to process the task. The compute service manager 108 may determinewhat data is needed to process a task and further determine which nodeswithin the execution platform 110 are best suited to process the task.Some nodes may have already cached the data needed to process the taskand, therefore, be a good candidate for processing the task. Metadatastored in a metadata database 112 assists the compute service manager108 in determining which nodes in the execution platform 110 havealready cached at least a portion of the data needed to process thetask. One or more nodes in the execution platform 110 process the taskusing data cached by the nodes and, if necessary, data retrieved fromthe cloud storage platform 104. It is desirable to retrieve as much dataas possible from caches within the execution platform 110 because theretrieval speed is typically much faster than retrieving data from thecloud storage platform 104.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the computing environment 100 separates theexecution platform 110 from the storage platform 104. In thisarrangement, the processing resources and cache resources in theexecution platform 110 operate independently of the data storage devices120-1 to 120-N in the cloud storage platform 104. Thus, the computingresources and cache resources are not restricted to specific datastorage devices 120-1 to 120-N. Instead, all computing resources and allcache resources may retrieve data from, and store data to, any of thedata storage resources in the cloud storage platform 104.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating components of the compute servicemanager 108, in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure. As shown in FIG. 2 , the compute service manager 108includes an access manager 202 and a credential management system 204coupled to an access metadata database 206, which is an example of themetadata database(s) 112. Access manager 202 handles authentication andauthorization tasks for the systems described herein. The credentialmanagement system 204 facilitates use of remote stored credentials(e.g., credentials stored in one of the remote credential stores 118-1to 118-N) to access external resources such as data resources in aremote storage device. As used herein, the remote storage devices mayalso be referred to as “persistent storage devices” or “shared storagedevices.” For example, the credential management system 204 may createand maintain remote credential store definitions and credential objects(e.g., in the access metadata database 206). A remote credential storedefinition identifies a remote credential store (e.g., one or more ofthe remote credential stores 118-1 to 118-N) and includes accessinformation to access security credentials from the remote credentialstore. A credential object identifies one or more security credentialsusing non-sensitive information (e.g., text strings) that are to beretrieved from a remote credential store for use in accessing anexternal resource. When a request invoking an external resource isreceived at run time, the credential management system 204 and accessmanager 202 use information stored in the access metadata database 206(e.g., a credential object and a credential store definition) toretrieve security credentials used to access the external resource froma remote credential store.

A request processing service 208 manages received data storage requestsand data retrieval requests (e.g., jobs to be performed on databasedata). For example, the request processing service 208 may determine thedata to process a received query (e.g., a data storage request or dataretrieval request). The data may be stored in a cache within theexecution platform 110 or in a data storage device in storage platform104.

A management console service 210 supports access to various systems andprocesses by administrators and other system managers. Additionally, themanagement console service 210 may receive a request to execute a joband monitor the workload on the system.

The compute service manager 108 also includes a job compiler 212, a joboptimizer 214 and a job executor 216. The job compiler 212 parses a jobinto multiple discrete tasks and generates the execution code for eachof the multiple discrete tasks. The job optimizer 214 determines thebest method to execute the multiple discrete tasks based on the datathat needs to be processed. The job optimizer 214 also handles variousdata pruning operations and other data optimization techniques toimprove the speed and efficiency of executing the job. The job executor216 executes the execution code for jobs received from a queue ordetermined by the compute service manager 108.

A job scheduler and coordinator 218 sends received jobs to theappropriate services or systems for compilation, optimization, anddispatch to the execution platform 110. For example, jobs may beprioritized and then processed in that prioritized order. In anembodiment, the job scheduler and coordinator 218 determines a priorityfor internal jobs that are scheduled by the compute service manager 108with other “outside” jobs such as user queries that may be scheduled byother systems in the database but may utilize the same processingresources in the execution platform 110. In some embodiments, the jobscheduler and coordinator 218 identifies or assigns particular nodes inthe execution platform 110 to process particular tasks. A virtualwarehouse manager 220 manages the operation of multiple virtualwarehouses implemented in the execution platform 110. For example, thevirtual warehouse manager 220 may generate query plans for executingreceived queries.

Additionally, the compute service manager 108 includes a configurationand metadata manager 222, which manages the information related to thedata stored in the remote data storage devices and in the local buffers(e.g., the buffers in execution platform 110). The configuration andmetadata manager 222 uses metadata to determine which data files need tobe accessed to retrieve data for processing a particular task or job. Amonitor and workload analyzer 224 oversee processes performed by thecompute service manager 108 and manages the distribution of tasks (e.g.,workload) across the virtual warehouses and execution nodes in theexecution platform 110. The monitor and workload analyzer 224 alsoredistributes tasks, as needed, based on changing workloads throughoutthe network-based data warehouse system 102 and may further redistributetasks based on a user (e.g., “external”) query workload that may also beprocessed by the execution platform 110. The configuration and metadatamanager 222 and the monitor and workload analyzer 224 are coupled to adata storage device 226. Data storage device 226 in FIG. 2 representsany data storage device within the network-based data warehouse system102. For example, data storage device 226 may represent buffers inexecution platform 110, storage devices in storage platform 104, or anyother storage device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating components of the executionplatform 110, in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure. As shown in FIG. 3 , the execution platform 110 includesmultiple virtual warehouses, including virtual warehouse 1, virtualwarehouse 2, and virtual warehouse n. Each virtual warehouse includesmultiple execution nodes that each include a data cache and a processor.The virtual warehouses can execute multiple tasks in parallel by usingthe multiple execution nodes. As discussed herein, the executionplatform 110 can add new virtual warehouses and drop existing virtualwarehouses in real-time based on the current processing needs of thesystems and users. This flexibility allows the execution platform 110 toquickly deploy large amounts of computing resources when needed withoutbeing forced to continue paying for those computing resources when theyare no longer needed. All virtual warehouses can access data from anydata storage device (e.g., any storage device in cloud storage platform104).

Although each virtual warehouse shown in FIG. 3 includes three executionnodes, a particular virtual warehouse may include any number ofexecution nodes. Further, the number of execution nodes in a virtualwarehouse is dynamic, such that new execution nodes are created whenadditional demand is present, and existing execution nodes are deletedwhen they are no longer necessary.

Each virtual warehouse is capable of accessing any of the data storagedevices 120-1 to 120-N shown in FIG. 1 . Thus, the virtual warehousesare not necessarily assigned to a specific data storage device 120-1 to120-N and, instead, can access data from any of the data storage devices120-1 to 120-N within the cloud storage platform 104. Similarly, each ofthe execution nodes shown in FIG. 3 can access data from any of the datastorage devices 120-1 to 120-N. In some embodiments, a particularvirtual warehouse or a particular execution node may be temporarilyassigned to a specific data storage device, but the virtual warehouse orexecution node may later access data from any other data storage device.

In the example of FIG. 3 , virtual warehouse 1 includes three executionnodes 302-1, 302-2, and 302-n. Execution node 302-1 includes a cache304-1 and a processor 306-1. Execution node 302-2 includes a cache 304-2and a processor 306-2. Execution node 302-n includes a cache 304-n and aprocessor 306-n. Each execution node 302-1, 302-2, and 302-n isassociated with processing one or more data storage and/or dataretrieval tasks. For example, a virtual warehouse may handle datastorage and data retrieval tasks associated with an internal service,such as a clustering service, a materialized view refresh service, afile compaction service, a storage procedure service, or a file upgradeservice. In other implementations, a particular virtual warehouse mayhandle data storage and data retrieval tasks associated with aparticular data storage system or a particular category of data.

Similar to virtual warehouse 1 discussed above, virtual warehouse 2includes three execution nodes 312-1, 312-2, and 312-n. Execution node312-1 includes a cache 314-1 and a processor 316-1. Execution node 312-2includes a cache 314-2 and a processor 316-2. Execution node 312-nincludes a cache 314-n and a processor 316-n. Additionally, virtualwarehouse 3 includes three execution nodes 322-1, 322-2, and 322-n.Execution node 322-1 includes a cache 324-1 and a processor 326-1.Execution node 322-2 includes a cache 324-2 and a processor 326-2.Execution node 322-n includes a cache 324-n and a processor 326-n.

In some embodiments, the execution nodes shown in FIG. 3 are statelesswith respect to the data being cached by the execution nodes. Forexample, these execution nodes do not store or otherwise maintain stateinformation about the execution node or the data being cached by aparticular execution node. Thus, in the event of an execution nodefailure, the failed node can be transparently replaced by another node.Since there is no state information associated with the failed executionnode, the new (replacement) execution node can easily replace the failednode without concern for recreating a particular state.

Although the execution nodes shown in FIG. 3 each includes one datacache and one processor, alternate embodiments may include executionnodes containing any number of processors and any number of caches.Additionally, the caches may vary in size among the different executionnodes. The caches shown in FIG. 3 store, in the local execution node,data that was retrieved from one or more data storage devices in cloudstorage platform 104. Thus, the caches reduce or eliminate thebottleneck problems occurring in platforms that consistently retrievedata from remote storage systems. Instead of repeatedly accessing datafrom the remote storage devices, the systems and methods describedherein access data from the caches in the execution nodes, which issignificantly faster and avoids the bottleneck problem discussed above.In some embodiments, the caches are implemented using high-speed memorydevices that provide fast access to the cached data. Each cache canstore data from any of the storage devices in the cloud storage platform104.

Further, the cache resources and computing resources may vary betweendifferent execution nodes. For example, one execution node may containsignificant computing resources and minimal cache resources, making theexecution node useful for tasks that require significant computingresources. Another execution node may contain significant cacheresources and minimal computing resources, making this execution nodeuseful for tasks that require caching of large amounts of data. Yetanother execution node may contain cache resources providing fasterinput-output operations, useful for tasks that require fast scanning oflarge amounts of data. In some embodiments, the cache resources andcomputing resources associated with a particular execution node aredetermined when the execution node is created, based on the expectedtasks to be performed by the execution node.

Additionally, the cache resources and computing resources associatedwith a particular execution node may change over time based on changingtasks performed by the execution node. For example, an execution nodemay be assigned more processing resources if the tasks performed by theexecution node become more processor-intensive. Similarly, an executionnode may be assigned more cache resources if the tasks performed by theexecution node require a larger cache capacity.

Although virtual warehouses 1, 2, and n are associated with the sameexecution platform 110, the virtual warehouses may be implemented usingmultiple computing systems at multiple geographic locations. Forexample, virtual warehouse 1 can be implemented by a computing system ata first geographic location, while virtual warehouses 2 and n areimplemented by another computing system at a second geographic location.In some embodiments, these different computing systems are cloud-basedcomputing systems maintained by one or more different entities.

Additionally, each virtual warehouse is shown in FIG. 3 as havingmultiple execution nodes. The multiple execution nodes associated witheach virtual warehouse may be implemented using multiple computingsystems at multiple geographic locations. For example, an instance ofvirtual warehouse 1 implements execution nodes 302-1 and 302-2 on onecomputing platform at a geographic location and implements executionnode 302-n at a different computing platform at another geographiclocation. Selecting particular computing systems to implement anexecution node may depend on various factors, such as the level ofresources needed for a particular execution node (e.g., processingresource requirements and cache requirements), the resources availableat particular computing systems, communication capabilities of networkswithin a geographic location or between geographic locations, and whichcomputing systems are already implementing other execution nodes in thevirtual warehouse.

Execution platform 110 is also fault tolerant. For example, if onevirtual warehouse fails, that virtual warehouse is quickly replaced witha different virtual warehouse at a different geographic location.

A particular execution platform 110 may include any number of virtualwarehouses. Additionally, the number of virtual warehouses in aparticular execution platform is dynamic, such that new virtualwarehouses are created when additional processing and/or cachingresources are needed. Similarly, existing virtual warehouses may bedeleted when the resources associated with the virtual warehouse are nolonger necessary.

In some embodiments, the virtual warehouses may operate on the same datain cloud storage platform 104, but each virtual warehouse has its ownexecution nodes with independent processing and caching resources. Thisconfiguration allows requests on different virtual warehouses to beprocessed independently and with no interference between the requests.This independent processing, combined with the ability to dynamicallyadd and remove virtual warehouses, supports the addition of newprocessing capacity for new users without impacting the performanceobserved by the existing users.

FIG. 4 is a data flow diagram illustrating use of remotely storedcredentials to access external resources, in accordance with someembodiments of the present disclosure. As shown, a credential object 400is stored by a metadata database 112. The credential object 400 is anexample of the credential object(s) 115 illustrated in FIG. 1 . Thecredential object 400 is generated by the compute service manager 108based on input received from a computing device in communication withthe network-based data warehouse system 102. For example, a user 401 canutilize a command line or other user interface provided to client device114 by the network-based data warehouse system 102 to provide a commandto create the credential object 400. The command may include acredential object definition.

The credential object 400 identifies a security credential to retrievefrom a remote credential store 402 of the credential store provider 118.The remote credential store 402 is an example of one of the credentialstores 118-1 to 118-N. In this particular example, the credential object400 indicates that security credential 403 is to be retrieved from thecredential store 402. The credential object 400 may be stored with anassociation with a credential store definition, which is a datastructure that identifies the remote credential store 402. The securitycredential 403 is used to access an external resource 405 such as a dataresource 406 stored by the storage platform 104 or a remote softwarecomponent 407 executed by a remote computing environment 408.Accordingly, the credential object 400 may also be stored with anassociation with an identifier or other information used to track theexternal resource 405.

At 404, the client device 114 sends a request to the compute servicemanager 108 that includes a request to access the external resource 405.The request may be associated with the user 401, a role assumed by theuser 401, or a function invoked by the user 401. It shall be appreciatedthat the user who provides the command to create the credential object400 may be a different user from the user that provides the request toaccess the external resource 405. For example, a first user withadministrator privileges—an administrative user—may provide the commandto create the credential object 400 and as part of the command, maygrant permission to a second user to use the credential object 400 toaccess the external resource 405. In this example, the second user mayprovide the command to access the external resource 405 though thesecond user is unaware of the credential information, which ispotentially sensitive information that the second user may not beauthorized to view. In this way, administrative users can enable otherusers to utilize external resources without exposing sensitive securitycredential information to the other users.

Based on receiving the request to access the external resource 405, thecompute service manager 108 accesses the credential object 400 thatidentifies the security credential 403 associated with the externalresource 405 (at 409). Based on the credential object 400 identifyingthe security credential 403, the compute service manager 108 retrievesthe security credential 403 from the credential store provider 118, at410. In some embodiments, the compute service manager 108 may usecredential store access information stored by the metadata database 112to access and retrieve the security credential 403. For example, thecompute service manager 108 may use the access information to assume aproxy identity 411 to retrieve the security credential 403, at 412.Importantly, the proxy identity 411 has an associated trust policy toallow the compute service manager 108 to retrieve the securitycredential 403 from the credential store 402.

At 413, the compute service manager 108 provides the retrieved securitycredential 403 to one or more execution nodes in the execution platform110 for use in accessing the external resource 405. In some embodiments,the compute service manager 108 may pass the retrieved securitycredential in a data structure to the execution platform 110. Forexample, the credential object 400 may initially comprise non-sensitiveinformation to identify the security credential 403 and the computeservice manager 108 may populate the credential object 400 with thesecurity credential 403 before passing the credential object 400 to theone or more execution nodes of the execution platform 110. The datastructure is stored in local memory (e.g., volatile memory) and notpersisted. In this manner, the compute service manager 108 avoidspersisting sensitive information.

At 414, the execution platform 110 uses the security credential 403 toaccess the external resource 405. For example, an execution node of theexecution platform 110 may use the security credential 403 to access thedata resource 406 from the storage platform 104.

In another example, an execution node of the execution platform 110 mayuse the security credential 403 to cause the remote computingenvironment 408 to execute the remote software component 407 to performfunctionality provided thereby. The remote computing environment 408comprises one or more computing machines that execute the remotesoftware component 407 to provide additional functionality to users ofthe network-based data warehouse system 102. In some embodiments, theremote computing environment 408 may be included in or provided by thestorage platform 104.

The remote software component 407 comprises a set of machine-readableinstructions (e.g., code) that, when executed by the remote computingenvironment 408, cause the remote software component 407 to providecertain functionality. The remote software component 407 may operate oninput data and generate result data based on processing, analyzing, orotherwise transforming the input data. As an example, the remotesoftware component 407 may comprise a scalar function, a table function,or a stored procedure.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating operations of the network-baseddata warehouse system 102 in performing a method 500 for using asecurity credential stored at a remote credential store to access anexternal resource, in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure. The method 500 may be embodied in computer-readableinstructions for execution by one or more hardware components (e.g., oneor more processors) such that the operations of the method 500 may beperformed by components of network-based data warehouse system 102.Accordingly, the method 500 is described below, by way of example withreference thereto. However, it shall be appreciated that the method 500may be deployed on various other hardware configurations and is notintended to be limited to deployment within the network-based datawarehouse system 102.

At operation 505, the compute service manager 108 receives a credentialstore definition. The credential store definition is received from acomputing device in communication with the data warehouse system 102 andis specified by a first entity via a command line or user interfaceprovided to the computing device by the network-based data warehousesystem 102. The first entity may be an administrative user belonging toa client account of the network-based data warehouse system 102. Thecredential store definition may be included as part of a credentialstore create command received from the computing device.

The credential store definition identifies a credential store providerand a remote credential store maintained by the credential storeprovider. The remote credential store stores security credentials usedfor accessed one or more network-based resources.

The credential store definition also includes access information toenable access by the compute service manager 108 to the remotecredential store. For example, the access information may include aproperty or set of properties that are specific to the credential storeprovider that enable the compute service manager 108 to access theremote credential store. In some instances, the access informationenables the compute service manager 108 to assume a proxy identity(e.g., an AWS role) that has associated permissions to retrieve securitycredentials stored by the credential store.

At operate 510, the compute service manager 108 receives a credentialobject definition identifying one or more security credentials to beretrieved from the remote credential store at runtime to facilitateaccess to an external resource. The one or more security credentialsmay, for example, include a username and a password to be used inaccessing an external resource. The credential object may, accordingly,include an identifier or list of identifiers of one or more securitycredentials to be retrieved from the remote credential store. Forexample, the credential object definition may include one or more textstrings to indicate which security credentials to retrieve. In someinstances, the remote credential store may store a set of securitycredentials and the credential object definition may identify only asubset of the security credentials stored by the remote credentialstore.

At operation 515, the compute service manager 108 creates a credentialobject based on the credential object definition. The compute servicemanager 108 creates the credential object in an internal database ofcredential objects (e.g., database 112). Notably, the credential objectdoes not include any sensitive information and no sensitive informationis stored in the internal database. Instead, the credential objectsimply includes identifiers of the one or more credentials identified inthe credential object definition (e.g., strings to indicate securitycredentials). In some instances, the credential object may furtherinclude an association with or identifier of the remote credentialstore.

At operation 520, the compute service manager 108 receives a request toaccess the external resource. The request may correspond to or be basedon a data storage or data retrieval request received from a secondcomputing device and associated with a second entity (e.g., a user,role, or function). Based on receiving the request to access theexternal resource, the compute service manager 108 accesses thecredential object to identify one or more security credentials toretrieve from the remote credential store to be able to access theexternal resource, at operation 525.

At operation 530, the compute service manager 108 uses the accessinformation specified in the credential store definition to retrieve theone or more security credentials identified by the credential object. Toretrieve the one or more security credentials, the compute servicemanager 108 may transmit one or more requests to the remote credentialstore. For example, the compute service manager 108 may use the accessinformation to assume a proxy identity at the credential store toretrieve the one or more security credentials. In some embodiments, thecompute service manager 108 uses the access information to obtaintemporary security credentials to assume the proxy identity.

At operation 535, the compute service manager 108 provides the one ormore security credentials to one or more downstream processingcomponents (e.g., an execution node of the execution platform 110) toaccess the external resource. The compute service manager 108 mayprovide the one or more security credentials within a data structurethat is discarded after use. For example, the credential object mayinitially comprise non-sensitive information to identify the one or moresecurity credentials and the compute service manager 108 can populatethe credential object with the one or more security credentials beforepassing the credential object to the one or more execution nodes of theexecution platform 110. The one or more retrieved security credentialsare stored in local memory (e.g., volatile memory) and are not persistedto avoid persisting sensitive information. The one or more downstreamcomponents, in turn, access the external resource using the one or moresecurity credentials in accordance with the request.

At operation 540, the compute service manager 108 creates a record inthe metadata database 112 based on the use of the one or more securitycredentials to access the external resource. The record may comprise anyone or more of: a timestamp, an indicator of the security credentialsretrieved, an indicator of the remote credential store from which theone or more security credentials were retrieved, an indicator of thecredential store provider that is responsible for maintaining the remotecredential store, and an indicator of the entity (e.g., an account,user, role, or function) associated with the request.

In some instances, a retrieved security credential may change while thedownstream components are still processing the request. For example, thesecurity credential may expire before the downstream components are doneaccessing the external resource (e.g., short term authentication accesstokens). In these instances, the compute service manager 108 may“refresh” the security credential by again retrieving new or updatedsecurity credential from the remote credential store and providing thenew or updated security credential to the downstream components forcontinued processing.

As shown in FIG. 6 , the method 500 may, in some embodiments, includeoperations 605 and 610. In some embodiments, the operation 605 may beperformed at any time subsequent to (e.g., as a sub-route or sub-task)operation 515 where the compute service manager 108 creates thecredential object. In some embodiments, the operation 605 is performedas part of the operation 510 where the compute service manager 108receives the credential object definition. At operation 605, the computeservice manager 108 sets usage permissions for the credential object.The compute service manager 108 may set usage permissions based on inputreceived from the first user. The setting of usage permissions for thecredential object may comprise granting a second identity permission touse the one or more security credentials identified by the credentialobject to access the external resource. The second identity maycorrespond to user, role, or function within the context of the datawarehouse system 102. An identity such as a role may correspond tomultiple users, and thus in granting the second identity permission touse the one or more security credentials, the compute service manager108 may provide permission to multiple users to use the credentialobject. The permission to use the one or more security credentials maybe scoped based on one or more constraints. For example, the usagepermissions granted to the second identity may place a temporalconstraint on the use of the one or more security credentials (e.g., anexpiration time or a valid time window). As another example, the usagepermissions may limit the access of the second entity to certain data orservices provided by the external resource.

As shown, operation 610 may be prior to retrieving the one or moresecurity credentials from the remote credential store. At operation 610,the compute service manager 108 verifies usage permissions of the secondentity associated with the request. In verifying the usage permissionsassociated with the second entity, the compute service manager 108verifies the second entity has permission to use the credential object.In some instances, the compute service manager 108 may further verifythat the second entity has associated permissions to use the one or moresecurity credentials to access particular data or services in accordancewith the request.

FIG. 7 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine 700 in theform of a computer system within which a set of instructions may beexecuted for causing the machine 700 to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein, according to an example embodiment.Specifically, FIG. 7 shows a diagrammatic representation of the machine700 in the example form of a computer system, within which instructions716 (e.g., software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, orother executable code) for causing the machine 700 to perform any one ormore of the methodologies discussed herein may be executed. For example,the instructions 716 may cause the machine 700 to execute any one ormore operations of the method 500. As another example, the instructions716 may cause the machine 700 to implement portions of the data flowsillustrated in FIG. 4 . In this way, the instructions 716 transform ageneral, non-programmed machine into a particular machine 700 (e.g., thecompute service manager 108 or a node in the execution platform 110)that is specially configured to carry out any one of the described andillustrated functions in the manner described herein.

In alternative embodiments, the machine 700 operates as a standalonedevice or may be coupled (e.g., networked) to other machines. In anetworked deployment, the machine 700 may operate in the capacity of aserver machine or a client machine in a server-client networkenvironment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed)network environment. The machine 700 may comprise, but not be limitedto, a server computer, a client computer, a personal computer (PC), atablet computer, a laptop computer, a netbook, a smart phone, a mobiledevice, a network router, a network switch, a network bridge, or anymachine capable of executing the instructions 716, sequentially orotherwise, that specify actions to be taken by the machine 700. Further,while only a single machine 700 is illustrated, the term “machine” shallalso be taken to include a collection of machines 700 that individuallyor jointly execute the instructions 716 to perform any one or more ofthe methodologies discussed herein.

The machine 700 includes processors 710, memory 730, and input/output(I/O) components 750 configured to communicate with each other such asvia a bus 702. In an example embodiment, the processors 710 (e.g., acentral processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing(RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor,a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a radio-frequencyintegrated circuit (RFIC), another processor, or any suitablecombination thereof) may include, for example, a processor 712 and aprocessor 714 that may execute the instructions 716. The term“processor” is intended to include multi-core processors 710 that maycomprise two or more independent processors (sometimes referred to as“cores”) that may execute instructions 716 contemporaneously. AlthoughFIG. 7 shows multiple processors 710, the machine 700 may include asingle processor with a single core, a single processor with multiplecores (e.g., a multi-core processor), multiple processors with a singlecore, multiple processors with multiple cores, or any combinationthereof.

The memory 730 may include a main memory 732, a static memory 734, and astorage unit 736, all accessible to the processors 710 such as via thebus 702. The main memory 732, the static memory 734, and the storageunit 736 store the instructions 716 embodying any one or more of themethodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 716 mayalso reside, completely or partially, within the main memory 732, withinthe static memory 734, within machine storage medium 738 of the storageunit 736, within at least one of the processors 710 (e.g., within theprocessor's cache memory), or any suitable combination thereof, duringexecution thereof by the machine 700.

The I/O components 750 include components to receive input, provideoutput, produce output, transmit information, exchange information,capture measurements, and so on. The specific I/O components 750 thatare included in a particular machine 700 will depend on the type ofmachine. For example, portable machines such as mobile phones willlikely include a touch input device or other such input mechanisms,while a headless server machine will likely not include such a touchinput device. It will be appreciated that the I/O components 750 mayinclude many other components that are not shown in FIG. 7 . The I/Ocomponents 750 are grouped according to functionality merely forsimplifying the following discussion and the grouping is in no waylimiting. In various example embodiments, the I/O components 750 mayinclude output components 752 and input components 754. The outputcomponents 752 may include visual components (e.g., a display such as aplasma display panel (PDP), a light emitting diode (LED) display, aliquid crystal display (LCD), a projector, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)),acoustic components (e.g., speakers), other signal generators, and soforth. The input components 754 may include alphanumeric inputcomponents (e.g., a keyboard, a touch screen configured to receivealphanumeric input, a photo-optical keyboard, or other alphanumericinput components), point-based input components (e.g., a mouse, atouchpad, a trackball, a joystick, a motion sensor, or another pointinginstrument), tactile input components (e.g., a physical button, a touchscreen that provides location and/or force of touches or touch gestures,or other tactile input components), audio input components (e.g., amicrophone), and the like.

Communication may be implemented using a wide variety of technologies.The I/O components 750 may include communication components 764 operableto couple the machine 700 to a network 780 or devices 770 via a coupling782 and a coupling 772, respectively. For example, the communicationcomponents 764 may include a network interface component or anothersuitable device to interface with the network 780. In further examples,the communication components 764 may include wired communicationcomponents, wireless communication components, cellular communicationcomponents, and other communication components to provide communicationvia other modalities. The devices 770 may be another machine or any of awide variety of peripheral devices (e.g., a peripheral device coupledvia a universal serial bus (USB)). For example, as noted above, themachine 700 may correspond to any one of the compute service manager 108or the execution platform 110, and the devices 770 may include theclient device 114 or any other computing device described herein asbeing in communication with the network-based data warehouse system 102or the cloud storage platform 104.

Executable Instructions and Machine Storage Medium

The various memories (e.g., 730, 732, 734, and/or memory of theprocessor(s) 710 and/or the storage unit 736) may store one or more setsof instructions 716 and data structures (e.g., software) embodying orutilized by any one or more of the methodologies or functions describedherein. These instructions 716, when executed by the processor(s) 710,cause various operations to implement the disclosed embodiments.

As used herein, the terms “machine-storage medium,” “device-storagemedium,” and “computer-storage medium” mean the same thing and may beused interchangeably in this disclosure. The terms refer to a single ormultiple storage devices and/or media (e.g., a centralized ordistributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that storeexecutable instructions and/or data. The terms shall accordingly betaken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, andoptical and magnetic media, including memory internal or external toprocessors. Specific examples of machine-storage media, computer-storagemedia, and/or device-storage media include non-volatile memory,including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EEPROM), field-programmable gate arrays(FPGAs), and flash memory devices; magnetic disks such as internal harddisks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROMdisks. The terms “machine-storage media,” “computer-storage media,” and“device-storage media” specifically exclude carrier waves, modulateddata signals, and other such media, at least some of which are coveredunder the term “signal medium” discussed below.

Transmission Medium

In various example embodiments, one or more portions of the network 780may be an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a virtual privatenetwork (VPN), a local-area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), awide-area network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), a metropolitan-areanetwork (MAN), the Internet, a portion of the Internet, a portion of thepublic switched telephone network (PSTN), a plain old telephone service(POTS) network, a cellular telephone network, a wireless network, aWi-Fi® network, another type of network, or a combination of two or moresuch networks. For example, the network 780 or a portion of the network780 may include a wireless or cellular network, and the coupling 782 maybe a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) connection, a Global Systemfor Mobile communications (GSM) connection, or another type of cellularor wireless coupling. In this example, the coupling 782 may implementany of a variety of types of data transfer technology, such as SingleCarrier Radio Transmission Technology (1×RTT), Evolution-Data Optimized(EVDO) technology, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology,Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology, thirdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) including 3G, fourth generationwireless (4G) networks, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System(UMTS), High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Worldwide Interoperability forMicrowave Access (WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard, othersdefined by various standard-setting organizations, other long-rangeprotocols, or other data transfer technology.

The instructions 716 may be transmitted or received over the network 780using a transmission medium via a network interface device (e.g., anetwork interface component included in the communication components764) and utilizing any one of a number of well-known transfer protocols(e.g., hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP)). Similarly, the instructions716 may be transmitted or received using a transmission medium via thecoupling 772 (e.g., a peer-to-peer coupling) to the devices 770. Theterms “transmission medium” and “signal medium” mean the same thing andmay be used interchangeably in this disclosure. The terms “transmissionmedium” and “signal medium” shall be taken to include any intangiblemedium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying theinstructions 716 for execution by the machine 700, and include digitalor analog communications signals or other intangible media to facilitatecommunication of such software. Hence, the terms “transmission medium”and “signal medium” shall be taken to include any form of modulated datasignal, carrier wave, and so forth. The term “modulated data signal”means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set orchanged in such a manner as to encode information in the signal.

Computer-Readable Medium

The terms “machine-readable medium,” “computer-readable medium,” and“device-readable medium” mean the same thing and may be usedinterchangeably in this disclosure. The terms are defined to includeboth machine-storage media and transmission media. Thus, the termsinclude both storage devices/media and carrier waves/modulated datasignals.

The various operations of example methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Similarly, the methods described hereinmay be at least partially processor-implemented. For example, at leastsome of the operations of the method 500 may be performed by one or moreprocessors. The performance of certain of the operations may bedistributed among the one or more processors, not only residing within asingle machine, but also deployed across a number of machines. In someexample embodiments, the processor or processors may be located in asingle location (e.g., within a home environment, an office environment,or a server farm), while in other embodiments the processors may bedistributed across a number of locations.

Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been describedwith reference to specific example embodiments, it will be evident thatvarious modifications and changes may be made to these embodimentswithout departing from the broader scope of the inventive subjectmatter. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regardedin an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. The accompanyingdrawings that form a part hereof show, by way of illustration, and notof limitation, specific embodiments in which the subject matter may bepracticed. The embodiments illustrated are described in sufficientdetail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the teachingsdisclosed herein. Other embodiments may be used and derived therefrom,such that structural and logical substitutions and changes may be madewithout departing from the scope of this disclosure. This DetailedDescription, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and thescope of various embodiments is defined only by the appended claims,along with the full range of equivalents to which such claims areentitled.

Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred toherein, individually and/or collectively, by the term “invention” merelyfor convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope ofthis application to any single invention or inventive concept if morethan one is in fact disclosed. Thus, although specific embodiments havebeen illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that anyarrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substitutedfor the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to coverany and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments.Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments notspecifically described herein, will be apparent, to those of skill inthe art, upon reviewing the above description.

In this document, the terms “a” or “an” are used, as is common in patentdocuments, to include one or more than one, independent of any otherinstances or usages of “at least one” or “one or more.” In thisdocument, the term “or” is used to refer to a nonexclusive or, such that“A or B” includes “A but not B,” “B but not A,” and “A and B,” unlessotherwise indicated. In the appended claims, the terms “including” and“in which” are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respectiveterms “comprising” and “wherein.” Also, in the following claims, theterms “including” and “comprising” are open-ended; that is, a system,device, article, or process that includes elements in addition to thoselisted after such a term in a claim is still deemed to fall within thescope of that claim.

EXAMPLES

Example 1 is a system comprising: at least one hardware processor; and amemory storing instructions that cause the at least one hardwareprocessor to perform operations comprising: receiving a credential storedefinition identifying a remote credential store and including accessinformation to enable the system to access the remote credential store;receiving a credential object definition comprising an identifier ofsecurity credential to retrieve from the remote credential store, thesecurity credential being associated with an external resource;creating, in a database, a credential object based on the credentialobject definition, the credential object identifying the securitycredential to retrieve from the remote credential store; receiving arequest to access the external resource associated with the securitycredential; in response to receiving the request, retrieving, from theremote credential store, the security credential identified by thecredential object using the access information; and providing thesecurity credential retrieved from the remote credential store to aprocessing component for use in accessing the external resource.

Example 2 includes the system of Example 1, wherein the operationsoptionally comprise: generating a record, in the database, based on useof the security credential to access the external resource, the recordincluding an identifier of an entity associated with the request.

Example 3 includes the system of any one or more of Examples 1 and 2,wherein the operations optionally comprise: setting one or more usagepermissions associated with the credential object.

Example 4 includes the system of any one or more of Examples 1-3,wherein one or more usage permissions associated with the credentialobject include at least one constraint on the use of the securitycredential.

Example 5 includes the system of any one or more of Examples 1-4,wherein the operations optionally comprise: verifying one or more usagepermissions of an entity associated with the request before retrievingthe security credential.

Example 6 includes the system of any one or more of Examples 1-5,wherein the operations optionally comprise verifying that the entity haspermission to use the credential object.

Example 7 includes the system of any one or more of Examples 1-6,wherein: the setting of the one or more usage permissions associatedwith the credential object comprises granting permission to a user,role, or function to use the security credential associated with thecredential object.

Example 8 includes the system of any one or more of Examples 1-7,wherein the operations optionally comprise: accessing, in response tothe request, the credential object to identify the security credentialto retrieve to access the external resource.

Example 9 includes the system of any one or more of Examples 1-8,wherein the operations optionally comprise: using access information toassume a proxy identity at the remote credential store, the proxyidentity having associated permissions to retrieve the securitycredential from the remote credential store.

Example 10 includes the system of any one or more of Examples 1-9,wherein the security credentials comprises at least one of: a usernameand password.

Example 11 is a method comprising: receiving a credential storedefinition identifying a remote credential store and including accessinformation to enable access to the remote credential store; receiving acredential object definition comprising an identifier of securitycredential to retrieve from the remote credential store, the securitycredential being associated with an external resource; creating, in adatabase, by one or more processors, a credential object based on thecredential object definition, the credential object identifying thesecurity credential to retrieve from the remote credential store;receiving a request to access the external resource associated with thesecurity credential; in response to receiving the request, retrieving,from the remote credential store, the security credential identified bythe credential object using the access information; and providing thesecurity credential retrieved from the remote credential store to aprocessing component for use in accessing the external resource.

Example 12 includes the method of Example 11, wherein the operationsoptionally comprise: generating a record, in the database, based on useof the security credential to access the external resource, the recordincluding an identifier of an entity associated with the request.

Example 13 includes the method of any one or more of Examples 11 and 12,wherein the operations optionally comprise: setting one or more usagepermissions associated with the credential object.

Example 14 includes the method of any one or more of Examples 11-13,wherein one or more usage permissions associated with the credentialobject include at least one constraint on the use of the securitycredential.

Example 15 includes the method of any one or more of Examples 11-14,wherein the operations optionally comprise: verifying one or more usagepermissions of an entity associated with the request before retrievingthe security credential.

Example 16 includes the method of any one or more of Examples 11-15,wherein the operations optionally comprise verifying that the entity haspermission to use the credential object.

Example 17 includes the method of any one or more of Examples 11-16,wherein: the setting of the one or more usage permissions associatedwith the credential object comprises granting permission to a user,role, or function to use the security credential associated with thecredential object.

Example 18 includes the method of any one or more of Examples 11-17,wherein the operations optionally comprise: accessing, in response tothe request, the credential object to identify the security credentialto retrieve to access the external resource.

Example 19 includes the method of any one or more of Examples 11-18,wherein the operations optionally comprise: using access information toassume a proxy identity at the remote credential store, the proxyidentity having associated permissions to retrieve the securitycredential from the remote credential store.

Example 20 includes a computer-storage medium comprising instructionsthat, when executed by one or more processors of a machine, configurethe machine to perform operations comprising: receiving a credentialstore definition identifying a remote credential store and includingaccess information to enable access to the remote credential store;receiving a credential object definition comprising an identifier ofsecurity credential to retrieve from the remote credential store, thesecurity credential being associated with an external resource;creating, in a database, a credential object based on the credentialobject definition, the credential object identifying the securitycredential to retrieve from the remote credential store; receiving arequest to access the external resource associated with the securitycredential; in response to on receiving the request, retrieving, fromthe remote credential store, the security credential identified by thecredential object using the access information; and providing thesecurity credential retrieved from the remote credential store to aprocessing component for use in accessing the external resource.

Example 21 includes the method of Example 20, wherein the operationsoptionally comprise: generating a record, in the database, based on useof the security credential to access the external resource, the recordincluding an identifier of an entity associated with the request.

Example 22 includes the computer-storage medium of any one or more ofExamples 20 and 21, wherein the operations optionally comprise: settingone or more usage permissions associated with the credential object.

Example 23 includes the computer-storage medium of any one or more ofExamples 20-22, wherein one or more usage permissions associated withthe credential object include at least one constraint on the use of thesecurity credential.

Example 24 includes the computer-storage medium of any one or more ofExamples 20-23, wherein the operations optionally comprise: verifyingone or more usage permissions of an entity associated with the requestbefore retrieving the security credential.

Example 25 includes the computer-storage medium of any one or more ofExamples 20-24, wherein the operations optionally comprise verifyingthat the entity has permission to use the credential object.

Example 26 includes the computer-storage medium of any one or more ofExamples 20-25, wherein: the setting of the one or more usagepermissions associated with the credential object comprises grantingpermission to a user, role, or function to use the security credentialassociated with the credential object.

Example 27 includes the computer-storage medium of any one or more ofExamples 20-26, wherein the operations optionally comprise: accessing,in response to the request, the credential object to identify thesecurity credential to retrieve to access the external resource.

Example 28 includes the computer-storage medium of any one or more ofExamples 20-27, wherein the operations optionally comprise: using accessinformation to assume a proxy identity at the remote credential store,the proxy identity having associated permissions to retrieve thesecurity credential from the remote credential store.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: at least one hardwareprocessor; and at least one memory storing instructions that cause theat least one hardware processor to perform operations comprising:receiving a request to access an external resource; in response toreceiving the request, identifying, based on a credential storedefinition, a remote credential store in a cloud credential storeprovider system that is external to the system, the credential storedefinition comprising access information associated with the cloudcredential store provider system, the remote credential store storing asecurity credential associated with the external resource; retrieving,from the remote credential store in the cloud credential store providersystem that is external to the system, the security credential using theaccess information in the credential store definition, the retrieving ofthe security credential comprising: using the access information toobtain temporary credentials to assume a proxy identity within theexternal system that has associated permissions to retrieve the securitycredential from the remote credential store; and assuming the proxyidentity using the temporary credentials; and providing the securitycredential to a processing component for use in accessing the externalresource.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein providing the securitycredential to the processing component comprises: populating a datastructure stored in volatile memory using the security credential; andpassing the data structure to the processing component.
 3. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the operations further comprise accessing a credentialobject associated with the external resource to identify the securitycredential to retrieve to access the external resource.
 4. The system ofclaim 3, wherein the operations further comprise creating, in aninternal database, the credential object based on a credential objectdefinition, the credential object including an identifier of thesecurity credential.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the operationsfurther comprise receiving the credential object definition comprisingthe identifier of the security credential to retrieve from the remotecredential store.
 6. The system of claim 3, wherein the operationsfurther comprise setting one or more usage permissions associated withthe credential object.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein the one or moreusage permissions associated with the credential object include at leastone constraint on the use of the security credential.
 8. The system ofclaim 6, wherein the operations further comprise verifying the one ormore usage permissions of an entity associated with the request beforeretrieving the security credential.
 9. The system of claim 8, whereinthe verifying of the one or more usage permissions includes verifyingthat the entity has permission to use the credential object.
 10. Thesystem of claim 6, wherein: the setting of the one or more usagepermissions associated with the credential object comprises grantingpermission to a user, role, or function to use the security credentialassociated with the credential object.
 11. The system of claim 1,further comprising: one or more execution nodes, wherein providing thesecurity credential to the processing component comprises providing thesecurity credential to the one or more execution nodes, wherein the oneor more execution nodes store the security credential in volatilememory.
 12. The system of claim 1, wherein the security credentialcomprises at least one of: a username and password.
 13. A methodcomprising: receiving a request to access an external resource; inresponse to receiving the request, identifying, based on a credentialstore definition stored in a metadata database, a remote credentialstore in a cloud credential store provider system that is external tothe metadata database, the credential store definition comprising accessinformation associated with the cloud credential store provider system,the remote credential store storing a security credential associatedwith the external resource; retrieving, from the remote credential storein the cloud credential store provider system that is external to themetadata database, the security credential using the access informationin the credential store definition, the retrieving of the securitycredential comprising: using the access information to obtain temporarycredentials to assume a proxy identity within the external system thathas associated permissions to retrieve the security credential from theremote credential store; and assuming the proxy identity using thetemporary credentials; and providing the security credential to aprocessing component for use in accessing the external resource.
 14. Themethod of claim 13, wherein providing the security credential to theprocessing component comprises: populating a data structure stored involatile memory using the security credential; and passing the datastructure to the processing component.
 15. The method of claim 13,further comprising accessing a credential object associated with theexternal resource to identify the security credential to retrieve toaccess the external resource.
 16. The method of claim 15, furthercomprising creating, in an internal database, the credential objectbased on a credential object definition, the credential object includingan identifier of the security credential.
 17. The method of claim 15,further comprising setting one or more usage permissions associated withthe credential object, the one or more usage permissions including atleast one constraint on the use of the security credential, wherein thesetting of the one or more usage permissions associated with thecredential object comprises granting permission to a user, role, orfunction to use the security credential associated with the credentialobject.
 18. The method of claim 17, further comprising verifying the oneor more usage permissions of an entity associated with the requestbefore retrieving the security credential.
 19. The method of claim 13,wherein providing the security credential to the processing componentcomprises providing the security credential to one or more executionnodes, wherein the one or more execution nodes store the securitycredential in volatile memory.
 20. A computer-storage medium comprisinginstructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a machine,configure the machine to perform operations comprising: receiving arequest to access an external resource; in response to receiving therequest, identifying, based on a credential store definition stored in ametadata database, a remote credential store in a cloud credential storeprovider system that is external to the metadata database, thecredential store definition comprising access information associatedwith the cloud credential store provider system, the remote credentialstore storing a security credential associated with the externalresource; retrieving, from the remote credential store in the cloudcredential store provider system that is external to the metadatadatabase, a security credential associated with the external resourceusing the access information in the credential store definition, theretrieving of the security credential comprising: using the accessinformation to obtain temporary credentials to assume a proxy identitywithin the external system that has associated permissions to retrievethe security credential from the remote credential store; and assumingthe proxy identity using the temporary credentials; and providing thesecurity credential to a processing component for use in accessing theexternal resource.
 21. The computer-storage medium of claim 20, whereinproviding the security credential to the processing component comprises:populating a data structure stored in volatile memory using the securitycredential; and passing the data structure to the processing component.22. The computer-storage medium of claim 20, wherein the operationsfurther comprise: accessing a credential object associated with theexternal resource to identify the security credential to retrieve toaccess the external resource.
 23. The computer-storage medium of claim22, wherein the operations further comprise: creating, in an internaldatabase, the credential object based on a credential object definition,the credential object including an identifier of the securitycredential; and setting one or more usage permissions associated withthe credential object, the one or more usage permissions including atleast one constraint on the use of the security credential, wherein thesetting of the one or more usage permissions associated with thecredential object comprises granting permission to a user, role, orfunction to use the security credential associated with the credentialobject.
 24. The computer-storage medium of claim 23, wherein theoperations further comprise: verifying the one or more usage permissionsof an entity associated with the request before retrieving the securitycredential.
 25. The computer-storage medium of claim 24, wherein theverifying of the one or more usage permissions includes verifying thatthe entity has permission to use the credential object.
 26. Thecomputer-storage medium of claim 20, wherein the processing componentstores the security credentials in a volatile memory.